Adhesive applicator with squeeze bottle holder



April 3, 1962 w. PETERSEN- ADHESIVE APPLICATOR WITH SQUEEZE BOTTLEHOLDER Filed Dec. 21, 1959 INVENTOR. MLL /.4M PETER-SEN BY g 2 a;

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,027,591 ADHESIVE APPLICATOR WITH SQUEEZEBOTTLE HOLDER William Petersen, 5451 4th Ave, Los Angeles, Calif. FiledDec. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 860,797 7 Claims. (Cl. 15-541) This inventionrelates to devices for spreading liquids upon surfaces to be coated, andhas as its general object to provide an applicator particularly adaptedfor spreading upon flat surfaces and rounded surfaces, a viscous liquid,such as an adhesive, ejected from a squeeze bottle container thereof.

The invention is particularly useful for the application of films ofadhesive to long narrow faces of boards, etc. for joining them to othermembers. For example, in the edge-joining of boards in a table top orother article of furniture, or in adhesively joining long narrow stripsof trim to other members, it becomes desirable to apply long ribbon-likefilms of adhesive to the surface of such parts preparatory to joiningthem. Applying such films of adhesive with a brush dipped in theadhesive is a messy procedure and it is extremely difficult to do thiswithout missing some areas of the surface to be coated while at the sametime confining the adhesive to the lateral limits of such surface. Inattempting to observe these requirements, with presently availableapplicators, the task of applying the adhesive becomes a slow andlaborious one.

With the foregoing problems in mind, the present invention has as itsgeneral object to provide a viscous liquid applicator utilizing a rollerfor applying to a long narrow flat surface a liquid which is fed ontothe surface of the roller from a squeeze bottle to which the roller isattached in a position to directly receive the liquid as it is expelledfrom the nozzle of the squeeze bottle.

The invention contemplates the application of films of liquid to longnarrow surfaces in a horizontal plane, in a vertical plane with thelongitudinal axis of the surface extending vertically, or in a verticalplane with the longitudinal axis of the surface extending horizontally.For operation under the first two conditions, the invention contemplatesapplying the liquid from the nozzle of the squeeze bottle to thecylindrical surface of the applicator roller approximately midwaybetween its ends, the liquid spreading horizontally toward the ends ofthe roller. However, for applying a liquid to a vertical surface whichis relatively narrow vertically and relatively long in a horizontaldirection (requiring the roller to be positioned with its axis verticaland to be moved along a horizontal path) the invention provides fordelivering the liquid to the roller at its upper end so that the liquidmay spread downwardly by gravity toward the other end of the roller.Accordingly, a further object of the invention is to provide a liquidapplicator combining a squeeze bottle and an applicator roller togetherwith holder means adapted for adjustably attaching the roller to thesqueeze bottle in a plurality of selected positions in one of which thetip of the squeeze bottle nozzle is positioned adjacent the cylindricalsurface of the roller between the ends thereof and in another of whichthe tip of the nozzle is positioned for delivering liquid to one end ofthe roller. More specifically, the invention aims to provide aconstruction wherein one end of the roller has an annular receivingshoulder such as to receive all of the liquid delivered from the nozzleof the squeeze bottle and to direct all of such liquid onto thecylindrical surface of the roller without any of the liquid escapingfrom the roller or reaching the bearing of the roller at the end wherethe liquid is delivered to the roller.

A further object is to provide an applicator embodying a roller, asqueeze bottle, a holder which can be easily attached to the bottle in amanner such that both the bottle and the holder can simultaneously beheld in the hand of the operator.

A still further object is to provide such a combination of roller,bottle and holder, together with a mounting yoke for the roller andmeans for adjustably connecting such mounting yoke to the frame in amanner such as to provide for adjustment of the roller toward and fromthe tip of the squeeze bottle nozzle along the longitudinal axis of thebottle; for adjustment of the roller along its own axis transversely tothe longitudinal axis of the bottle; and for swinging adjustment of theroller transversely to its own axis and transversely to the longitudinalaxis of the bottle, for adjusting the spacing between the nozzle tubeand the applicator surface of the roller.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the ensuingspecification and appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an adhesive applicator embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view thereof showing the applicator rolleradjusted to a different position of operation;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the applicator in the position of adjustmentshown in FIG. 1, viewed as indicated by line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the applicator in the position ofadjustment shown in FIG. 2, viewed as indicated by line 4-4 of FIG. 2;and

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 3.

Descripti0n,As an example of one form in which the invention may beembodied, I have shown in the drawing an adhesive applicator comprising,in general, a squeeze bottle A constituting a container for the adhesiveto be applied; a holder frame B adapted to be secured to the bottle A;an applicator roller unit C; and a connector unit D adjustably attachingunit C to frame B.

The squeeze bottle A includes a cylindrical container body 10 of highlyflexible material such as medium soft rubber of (preferably) aplasticized thermoplastic resin which is sufiiciently elastic and stiffto be normally form retaining but may be readily collapsed by squeezingpressure applied to diametrically opposite areas of its side wall,indenting said side wall areas inwardly so as to forcibly eject from theneck 11 of the bottle and through a delivery nozzle 12 which is attachedto the neck lul, a controlled quantity of the adhesive or other liquidwhich issues through a small aperture in the tip 13 of the nozzle 12,.

The holder B is fabricated from red or wire material (eg. twelve guagemetal wire plated or enameled with a suitable corrosion resistantfinish.) The frame is rectangular, including laterally spaced parallellongitudinal bars 15, a cross bar in bridging between and joining theforward ends of the bars 15, and a pair of fingers 19 projecting towardone another in aligned relationship from the rear ends of the bars 15and joined by a connecting sleeve 17 soldered or press-fitted thereover.

The container body 1i} is adapted to be cradled between the longitudinalbars 15 and secured thereto by rings of pressure sensitive adhesive tape18.

The roller unit C comprises a cylindrical roller 21 having an axial bore22 and a countersunk recess 23 at one end thereof; together with amounting yoke 24 having a trunnion 25 as one end portion thereof,journalled in the bore 22 and provided at its end with a head 26received in recess 23, Yoke 24 further includes a shaft 27 disposed inspaced parallel relation to trunnion 25, and an arm 28 integrally joinedto trunnion 25 and shaft 27 by right angle bends and holding the parts25 and 27 in spaced parallel relationship.

At one end, roller 21 hasa tapered nose 29 defining Q2 peripherally anapplicator shoulder 34? which may be of semi-toroidal concave crosssection, for delivering liquid material to the roller 21 at one endthereof when being operated with its axis vertical, in the applicationof adhesive to a long narrow vertical surface the longitudinal axis ofwhich extends horizontally. The opposite end of the roller is squared.

The adjustable connector unit D comprises a plurality of jaw elements31, 32 and 33 preferably in the form of discs having in their innerfaces, pair of grooves 34 and 35 extending chordally, parallel to oneanother, symmetricall spaced on opposite sides of a common central axisof the discs. The grooves 34 of discs 31 and 32 are in opposedregistering relation and are at right angles to the grooves 35 of thediscs 32 and 33, which likewise are in opposed registering relation toone another.

The two central discs 33, in effect, constitute a single central discunit having in one side a pair of grooves 34 and in its other side apair of groves 35 extending crosswise with respect to grooves 34. Whileit is preferred to utilize relatively simple stamped sheet metal discswhich are corrugated as shown in order to provide the grooves 34, itwill be understood that discs of solid plate stock could be used, withthe grooves milled in one face thereof, in which case the central discunit 32 would be a single integral disc with grooves milled in oppositefaces thereof. Preferably, in the specific form shown, the two centraldiscs 32 are secured together by spot welding or brazing or soldering soas to maintain the right angular crossed relationship of the grooves 34to grooves 35. One pair of grooves 35 receives one of the longitudinalbars 15 of frame B. One pair of the grooves 34 receives the transverseshaft 27 of yoke 24. The discs 31, 32 and 33 are clamped together by aclamp bolt 36 extending through central apertures in the respectivediscs and adapted to exert clamping pressure against the assembly ofdiscs so as to clamp the discs 31 and 32 against the yoke shaft 27 andto clamp the discs 32 and 33 against the frame bar 15.

By loosening the bolt 36, the clamping pressure on the shaft 27 and bar15 can be relaxed so as to permit any one or several of the followingadjustments to be made: (a) the connector unit B can be adjustedlongitudinally along its supporting frame bar 15 to adjust the roller 21toward and away from the nozzle tip 13; (b) the connector unit D can berotated around the axis of frame bar 13 to tilt the roller 21 into orout of parallel relationship between its axis and the plane of frame B;(c) the shaft 27 can be slid longitudinally in its clamping grooves 34to shift the roller 21 along its own axis, transversely to the majorlongitudinal axis of the frame B and the major axis of squeeze bottle A,for adjusting the relative positioning of nozzle tip 13 along the lengthof roller 21; and (d) the shaft 27 can be rotated within its clampinggrooves 34 to swing the yoke 24 and roller 21 arcuately about the axisof shaft 27 to adjust the spacing between the surface of roller 21 andthe nozzle tip 13 in a direction generally transverse to the plane offrame B.

perati0n.ln the use of the apparatus, the squeeze bottle A is attachedto the frame in the manner hereinbefore described, in a position whichis adjusted longitudinally of the frame B, wherein the nozzle 12 willproject beyond the end cross bar 16 of frame B. in using the apparatusfor applying adhesive to a long narrow flat surface (such as the flatmargin of a board or trim strip) disposed in a horizontal plane, or in avertical plane with the longitudinal axis of the surface extendingvertically, the parts may be adjusted to the relative positions shown inFIG. 1, with the nozzle 13 approximately in the center of the projected.cylindrical area of the roller 21 as shown in PEG. 1, and with theroller ad- 'justed to a position just clearing the nozzle tip 13 on theunderside thereof as shown in FIG. 3. The roller may then be applied tothe strip surface to be coated, indicated at at in FIG. 3 and moved backand forth along said surface as indicated by the arrow 41, Whilesimultaneously squeezing the bottle 16 between the fingers of theoperator to cause adhesive to be deposited upon the closely adjacentsurface of roller 21. During this operation, the applicator assembly isheld with its longitudinal axis (e.g. the major axis of bottle A) at anacute angle to the surface 49 sufficiently so that the parts ofadjustable connector D will clear the surface. It should be understoodthat although the surface 40 appears on the drawing in an inclinedposition, that normally the surface being treated will be disposedeither in a horizontal plane or a vertical plane and the axis of thebottle A will be inclined with reference to both horizontal andvertical.

Accordingly, the surface indicated at 40 in FIG. 3 may be regarded asrepresenting a surface extending in a horizontal plane; a surfacedisposed in a vertical plane and with its long axis also extendingvertically; or a surface disposed with its narrow dimension extendinghorizontally and its long dimension inclined between the vertical andthe horizontal as it appears in FIG. 3. In each of these cases, the axisof the roller 21 will be horizontal and the adhesive as it is ejectedfrom nozzle tip 13 will spread equally in both directions from thecenter of the roller toward the respective ends thereof, such spreadingaction being effected mainly as the adhesive is carried by the rolleraround to a position where it is smeared against the surface 4t} underpressure by the roller. Several passes of the roller back and forthagainst a particular section of surface 40 will be effective to spreadthe adhesive evenly from side to side of the surface 40 (which may beunderstood as being narrower than the length of roller 21 so that theend of the roller extends somewhat beyond the sides of the surface).

Where there is occasion to spread adhesive on a long narrow surfacedisposed in a vertical plane with its long dimension extendinghorizontally, it becomes necessary to hold the apparatus in a positionin which the axis of roller 21 is disposed vertically. FIG. 4illustrates the use of the apparatus under these circumstances, andviews the apparatus from above, the nose 29 of the roller being directedupwardly. In preparation for such use of the apparatus, the parts areadjusted to the relative positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the yoke 24being adjusted by rotating the connector unit D around the axis of framebar 15 through approximately from the position shown in FIG. 1 to theposition shown in FIG. 2, thus reversing the position of roller 21, endfor end, with respect to the frame B so that the receiving shoulder 39of nose 29 faces the nozzle tip 13 (insofar as the relationship betweenFTGS. l and 2 is concerned, the frame B and bottle A have been reversedwith respect to the roller unit C and the connector unit D). The shaft27 is then slid longitudinally with respect to the connector unit Duntil the nozzle tip 13 is in a position registering radially with thereceiving shoulder 30. The yoke 24 is then rotated about the axis ofshaft 27 to bring the nozzle tip 13 and receiving shoulder 3% in closeproximity as shown in FIG. 4 so that, when the apparatus is positionedwith the nose 2A9) directed upwardly the nozzle tip 13 will be directlyover the receiving shoulder 30 and in close proximity thereto fordirectly delivering the liquid onto the shoulder as the shoulderrevolves. Thus the liquid is deposited around the circumference ofshoulder 36 and will flow downwardly therefrom by gravity onto thecylindrical surface 21 of the roller toward the lower end of the roller.Before the liquid is allowed to drip from the lower end of the rollerhowever, it is spread upon the receiving surface 49.

I claim: a

1. In a liquid applicator: a liquid container comprising a squeezebottle having a nozzle terminating in a delivery tip; a frame includinga portion attached to the body of the bottle and a part projecting fromsaid portion; an applicator roller; 21 generally U-shaped yoke includinga trunnion on which said roller is journalled, a

shaft for attachment thereof to said frame, and an arm integrallyjoining one end of said shaft to one end of said trunnion with thetrunnion and shaft in spaced substantially parallel relation; andadjustable connector means attaching said shaft to said projecting framepart for swinging adjustment about the axis of said shaft to adjust saidroller toward and from said nozzle tip, and for axial shifting of saidshaft with respect to said connector means to adjust said rollerlengthwise and thereby vary the positioning of the nozzle tip betweenthe ends of the roller.

2. An applicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said frame comprises anelongated rectangular loop of rod material including a pair of spacedparallel longitudinal bars attached to a cylindrical lateral wall of thebottle by bands of adhesive tape and projecting beyond said lateral wallin laterally spaced relation to the nozzle to provide said projectingpart.

3. In a liquid applicator: a liquid container comprising an elongatedsqueeze bottle having a nozzle terminating in a delivery tip; a framecomprising a portion attached to the side walls of the bottle and a rodpart projecting from said portion, as thus attached, toward the nozzlein a position generally parallel to the bottle axis; an applicatorroller; a generally U-shaped yoke including a trunnion on which saidroller is journalled, a shaft for attachment thereof to said frame, andan arm integrally joining one end of said shaft to one end of saidtrunnion with the trunnion and shaft in spaced substantially parallelrelation; and adjustable connector means attaching said shaft to saidprojecting frame part for swinging adjustment about the axis of saidshaft toadjust said roiler toward and from said nozzle tip, and foraxial shifting of said shaft with respect to said connector means toadjust said roller lengthwise and thereby vary the positioning of thenozzle tip between the ends of the roller.

4. An applicator as defined in claim 3, wherein said adjustableconnector means comprises a plurality of jaw elements in the form ofdiscs, including outward and intermediate jaw elements and a clamp boltextending therethrough for drawing them together, with the jaw elementsarranged in two pairs each including an outer jaw element and anintermediate jaw element, one of said pairs of jaw elements havingtherein opposed registering grooves receiving said projecting rod partof the frame and providing for rotatable adjustment of the connectormeans around the axis of said frame part and bodily shifting adjustmentof the connector means along the length of said frame part, the otherpair of jaw elements having a pair of registering internal groovesdisposed approximately at right angles to the first mentioned pair ofgrooves and receiving said yoke shaft so as to provide for swingingadjustment of the yoke around the axis of said shaft to adjust thespacing between the roller and the nozzle tip and for bodily slidingadjustment of said shaft in said connector unit for bodily adjustment ofthe roller along its longitudinal axis to vary the spacing of the nozzletip between the ends of the roller.

5. An applicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said roller has at oneend a tapered nose defining a liquidreceivin g shoulder flaringoutwardly to a junction with the cylindrical surface of the roller atone end, for receiving liquid and conveying it onto said cylindricalsurface at said one end thereof when the roller is positioned with itsaxis vertical.

6. An applicator as defined in claim 3, wherein said roller has at oneend a concentric, concave toroidal liquidreceiving shoulder flaringoutwardly to a junction with the cylindrical surface of the roller atone end, for receiving liquid and conveying it onto said cylindricalsurface at said one end thereof when the roller is positioned with itsaxis vertical.

7. A liquid applicator comprising: a liquid container comprising anelongated squeeze bottle having a nozzle terminating in a delivery tip;a frame comprising a portion attached to the side walls of the bottleand a rod part projecting from said portion, as thus attached, towardthe nozzle in a position generally parallel to the bottle axis; anapplicator roller having a cylindrical applicator sur face and, at oneend, a tapered nose defining a liquidreceiving shoulder flaringoutwardly to a junction with said cylindrical surface at one endthereof, for receiving liquid and conveying it onto said cylindricalsurface when the roller is positioned with its axis vertical; agenerally U-shaped yoke including a trunnion on which said roller isjournalled, a shaft for attachment thereof to said frame, and an armintegrally joining one end of said shaft to one end of said trunnionwith the trunnion and shaft in spaced substantially parallel relation;and adjustable connector means attaching said yoke to said projectingrod part for swinging adjustment about the axis of said shaft to adjustsaid roller toward and from said nozzle tip, for bodily shifting saidshaft with respect to said connector means to adjust said rollerlengthwise and thereby vary the positioning of the nozzle tip betweenthe ends of the roller, and for swinging adjustment of said connectormeans and the yoke and roller as carried thereby, around the axis ofsaid rod part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

